Monday, November 26, 2012

Friday's Birding

"Yawn"

Harlequin Duck

From left to right, juvenile Great Cormorant, adult Great Cormorant, juvenile Great-crested Cormorant

Because last Thursday was Thanksgiving, I did not go out with Doug for a usual Thursday birding trip. However, we did bird on Friday. We first went to the summer Street fields in Bridgewater, with Doug finally got to see the Northern Lapwing. The biggest problem was that it was extremely foggy and you could barely make out the bird due to the fog. In fact, I didn't even bother taken my camera out of the car.

We then traveled down to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where we stopped at Jenny's Pond and was surprised since there were so few birds around. We then traveled down to Plymouth beach, where they are still working on the seawall and did cite a number of different duck species offshore, but again too far out for photographs.

Our next stop was Manomet Point, with the sun was now finally out. Looking over the rocks, there were a good number of harbor seals resting on the rocks. Both Great and Double-crested Cormorants, the usual gulls species and some beautiful Harlequin ducks swimming and feeding in the water. All the seals were making a racket.

We then traveled down to the Cape Cod Canal Visitors Center, in Sandwich, Massachusetts and walking down along the canal we observed a large number of Common Loons feeding. In fact, at one point, one of the loons started calling flapping its wings and running over the water, looking like was going to take off, went into the air and landed across on the other side of the canal.

Common Loon

Feeding among the rocks and seaweed was one of the brightest song sparrow's that I have seen, it had such gorgeous color, that it took a moment to identify the bird as a song sparrow.

Song Sparrow

Off of the mouth of the canal around one of the furthest green buoys Razorbills were feeding and there was a flyby by a pair of Dovekie's.

We finished off our trip to the Cape Cod Canal by traveling back to the other side of the canal in Bourne, where we sighted some horned larks in the field. On the lower rocks a herring gull was eating a starfish.

Horned Lark

Herring Gull eating a starfish

Northern Lapwing

Northern Lapwing in the setting sun

We decided on our way home to go back to see if we could get a better look at the Northern Lapwing. On arriving at the Summer Street fields, we joined a number of birders and photographers who were observing the lapwing at the top end of the field in the corn stubble. A much better outlook the early this morning.